Dr Gregor Johanne Mendel (1822 - 1884) Johanne Mendel was born in Austria. While a boy, he was instilled with the spirit of gardening. He studied at the Philosophic Institute de Aumatz and then entered the Althora Monastary as a novice where he studied theology and eventually became a priest. In the monastery he did his famous work formulating the laws of genetics. Recovering from a depression, he began his important work with peas from which he formulated his first law of segragation and his second law of independent assortment. There was considerable interest in his principles of inheritance but he was far ahead of his time. His hypotheses have evolved into the genetic laws that have advanced man's knowledge of biology.